Low Power Protocol for Wireless Terminal Peer-to-Peer Communications

ABSTRACT

A Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system in which wireless terminals each operate upon battery power. One of the wireless terminals acts as a Master to coordinate the transmission and receptions of the Slaves so as to reduce the power consumed by all of the devices. The Slaves operate according to a power up and power down sequence to conserve battery power. Further, the terminals may alternate between being Slaves and being the Master to equalize battery consumption of the wireless terminals.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/771,532, filed Feb. 4, 2004, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/466,377, filed Apr. 29, 2003, eachof which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entiretyfor all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to wireless local area networks; andmore particularly to a protocol for peer-to-peer communications ofwireless terminals.

2. Background of the Invention

Communication technologies that link electronic devices in a networkedfashion are well known. Examples of communication networks include wiredpacket data networks, wireless packet data networks, wired telephonenetworks, wireless telephone networks, and satellite communicationnetworks, among other networks. These communication networks typicallyinclude a network infrastructure that services a plurality of clientdevices. Wired Local Area Networks (LANs), e.g., Ethernets, are quitecommon and support communications between networked computers and otherdevices within a serviced area. LANs also often link serviced devices toWide Area Networks (WANs) and the Internet. Each of these networks isgenerally considered a “wired” network, and the devices on thosenetworks have essentially unlimited power supplies since they areconnected to a wired power source.

Wireless networks have been in existence for a relatively shorterperiod. Cellular telephone networks, wireless LANs (WLANs), andsatellite communication networks, among others, are examples of wirelessnetworks. Relatively common forms of WLANs are IEEE 802.11(a) networks,IEEE 802.11(b) networks, and IEEE 802.11(g) networks, referred tojointly as “IEEE 802.11 networks.” IEEE 802.11 networks may operateeither in Infrastructure Mode or in Ad Hoc mode. In Infrastructure Mode,a single node, termed an Access Point (AP), coordinates the actions ofthe other nodes and typically provides a connection to a wired network.In Ad Hoc mode, where an AP is not present, the wireless nodes jointlycoordinate the WLAN. In IEEE 802.11 networks, the nodes may coordinatein one of two possible methods: the Distributed Control Function (DCF)or the Point Control Function (PCF). It is generally assumed that aPoint Coordinator (PC) that provides the PCF is an AP within an IEEE802.11 network operating in Infrastructure Mode.

WLANs provide significant advantages when servicing portable devicessuch as portable computers, portable data terminals, portable gameterminals and other devices that are neither typically stationary nortethered to power. Because these devices are battery powered, it isadvantageous for these devices to turn off their radios and processingblocks as often as possible to conserve power. When an AP services theWLAN, the AP is usually tethered to a LAN connection and is connected toa wired power source. The AP therefore can continuously provide the PCFwithout interruption. However, in an Ad Hoc network, each of the WLANdevices is a peer such that none of the devices serves as an AP. Ad Hocnetworks may require transmission coordination similar to that providedby the IEEE 802.11 PCF since all of the devices are peers. In atraditional system, the transmitter and receiver of the PC typicallyremain constantly powered via a wired source. In an Ad Hoc network, alldevices may be battery powered so that none of the devices mayreasonably service the PCF.

In the current IEEE 802.11 specification when operating in the PCF mode,devices (CF-pollable STA) may only transmit data when they have receiveda poll from the PC. After the device has transmitted its data, itexpects to receive an acknowledgement message. If the data frame is notin turn acknowledged, the CF-Pollable STA shall not retransmit the frameunless the PC polls it again, or it decides to retransmit during theContention Period (CP). (Section 9.3 of IEEE 802.11 specification). Thusthe specified PC may receive transmissions when it is not powered and/orthe PC may unnecessarily remain powered awaiting potentialretransmissions.

Thus, there is a need in the art for improvements in protocols for WLANpeer devices that not only coordinate transmissions of peers thatresults in reduced power consumption, but that supports robust datathroughput.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods of operationthat are further described in the following Brief Description of theDrawings, the Detailed Description of the Drawings, and the claims.Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of the drawings madewith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will be more fully understood when considered with respect tothe following detailed description, appended claims and accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are system diagrams illustrating a plurality of wirelessterminals and their operation generally according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless terminal constructedaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating operation according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the frame cycle division of anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a signal timing diagram illustrating one example of operationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Generally, a method is provided to manage peer-to-peer communications ina wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) among a plurality of wirelessterminals using a unique frame cycle.

The frame cycle includes at least a beaconing period and a broadcastdata period. The frame cycle may also include a plurality of polled dataperiods and a contention period. One of the plurality of wirelessterminals acts as a Master during each frame cycle and the remainingones of the plurality of wireless terminals act as Slaves during eachframe cycle. During the beaconing period, the Master transmits a beaconand each of the plurality of Slaves listens for the beacon. During thebroadcast data period, the Master broadcasts data and each of theplurality of Slaves listens for the broadcast data. During each polleddata period, the Master polls an assigned Slave and the assigned Slavetransmits data to the Master if it has data to send. During thecontention period, new Slaves that are present within the WLAN transmitto the Master in an attempt to become a member of the VvLAN.

The frame cycle allows the wireless terminals to conserve battery lifeby powering down their transmitters and receivers during select periodsof time. During the plurality of polled data periods, non-assignedSlaves power down their transmitters and receivers. During a contentionperiod, the plurality of Slaves power down their transmitters andreceivers also. Such is the case because during these periods the Slavesthat are already members of the WLAN do not interface with the Master.

The method may further include alternating mastering duties among theplurality of wireless terminals according to a round-robin masteringcycle. Because the round-robin mastering cycle does not require a singlewireless terminal to be Master at all times, battery drain isdistributed amongst all the wireless terminals of the WLAN. In oneembodiment of the round-robin mastering cycle, none of the wirelessterminals serves as the Master for consecutive frame cycles. In anotherembodiment of the round-robin mastering cycle, none of the wirelessterminals serve as the Master for more than one frame cycle of theplurality of frame cycles. In still another embodiment of theround-robin mastering cycle, one of the wireless terminals acts as theMaster for more than one consecutive frame cycle of the plurality offrame cycles.

During the beaconing period and the broadcast data period, at least oneSlave of the plurality of Slaves powers down its respective transmitterbecause during the beaconing period and the broadcast data period theSlaves are not required to transmit to the Master. Each polled dataperiod corresponds to a particular Slave of the plurality of Slaves.Polled data period assignments are broadcast to the plurality of Slavesduring the beaconing period. Because each Slave knows its assignedpolled data period, each Slave may power down its transmitter andreceiver during non-assigned polled data periods. During assigned polleddata periods, the Slaves power up their transmitters and receivers sothat they can transmit data to the Master and receive acknowledgementsfrom the Master.

The polled data period may be subdivided into a polling period, a datatransmission period, and an acknowledgement period. With thissubdivision, an assigned Slave ramps up power to its receiver prior tothe polling period, ramps up power to its transmitter prior to the datatransmission period, fully powers its transmitter and receiver duringthe data transmission period during which it transmits data to theMaster, and powers down its transmitter during the acknowledgementperiod. During the acknowledgement period, the Slave keeps its receiverpowered so that it can receive an acknowledgement from the Master. Ifsuch an acknowledgement is not received, the Slave will again transmitthe data to the Master during the next frame cycle.

Turning to the Figures, FIGS. 1A and 1B are system diagrams illustratinga plurality of wireless terminals and their operation generallyaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG.1A, a wireless local area network (WLAN) includes a plurality ofwireless terminals 306, 308, 320, 322, and 324. These wireless terminalsoperate according to the present invention such that during any framecycle, one of the wireless terminals, e.g., wireless terminal 324,serves as the Master and remaining ones of the wireless terminals act asSlaves. This designation of Masters and Slaves remains in force for theparticular frame cycle. When round-robin mastering is being used, thedesignation of the Master may change every frame cycle or may changeevery so often. With the round-robin mastering cycle of the presentinvention, each of the Slaves will typically serve as a Master for atleast one frame cycle of the plurality of frame cycles of theround-robin mastering cycle.

If it is determined that one of the wireless terminals is tethered to apower source, e.g., laptop computer 306 or 308, the tethered wirelessterminal may be the assigned Master while the device is tethered. Thisoperation will reduce battery drain of the other wireless devices.Mastering assignment may be performed in an effort to distributeMastering duties among the plurality of wireless terminals to uniformlydrain the batteries of the wireless devices. In such case, wirelessdevices having comparatively longer battery lives will have greaterMastering duties.

FIG. 1B is a system diagram illustrating the wireless devices 306, 308,320, 322, and 324. Comparing FIG. 1B from FIG. 1A, a new Master,wireless terminal 322, has been assigned for the particular frame cycleillustrated in FIG. 1B. In such case, wireless devices 306, 308, 320,and 324 operate as Slaves to the Master for the particular frame cycle.This designation of Masters and Slaves may continue for one or aplurality of frame cycles of the round-robin mastering cycle. The mannerin which the wireless terminals of FIGS. 1A and 1B operate are describedin more detail with reference to FIG. 2 through FIG. 5.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless terminal constructedaccording to the present invention. A wireless terminal 200 includes anRF unit 204, a processor 206, a memory 208, and a user interface 210.The RF unit 204 couples to an antenna 222 that may be located internalor external to the case of the wireless terminal 200. In anotherembodiment, the wireless terminal 200 may include multiple antennas. TheRF unit 204 includes a transmitter 216 and a receiver 218 that couple tothe antenna 222 via a transmit/receive switch 220.

The processor 206 may be an Application Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC) or another type of processor that is capable of operating thewireless terminal 200 according to the present invention. The memory 208includes both static and dynamic components, e.g., DRAM, SRAM, ROM,EEPROM, etc. In some embodiments, the memory 208 may be partially orfully contained upon an ASIC that also includes the processor 206. Auser interface 210 includes a display, a keyboard, a speaker/microphone,and/or a data interface, and may include other user interfacecomponents. The RF unit 204, the processor 206, the memory 208, and theuser interface 210 couple via one or more communication buses/links. Abattery 212 also couples to and powers the RF unit 204, the processor206, the memory 208, and the user interface 210. The structure of thewireless terminal 200 illustrated is only an example of one wirelessterminal structure. Many other varied wireless terminal structures couldbe operated according to the teachings of the present invention.

In performing the operations of the present invention, the wirelessterminal 200 may execute software instructions, i.e., WLAN Instructions(WIs) 214. WIs 214 enable the wireless terminal 200 to perform theoperations of the present invention. In executing the wirelessinstructions, the WIs 214 are loaded from memory 208 into the processor206 for execution. In other embodiments, however, the wireless terminal200 may operate according to the present invention based upon hardwarefunction, firmware instructions, or a combination of any/all of these.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating operation according to oneembodiment of the present invention. As is illustrated in FIG. 3, duringeach frame cycle of the round-robin mastering cycle a Master is firstassigned or reassigned (step 302). The determination of which wirelessterminal of the WLAN to assign as the Master may be a very structuredmethodology in which each wireless terminal will serve as the Master forone or a plurality of frame cycles of the round-robin mastering cycle.Another technique may include a determination of which wirelessterminals are best suited to be Masters and to use these wirelessterminals as Masters while having other of the wireless terminals notserve as Masters during the round-robin mastering cycle. In any case,for the particular frame cycle of the round-robin mastering cycle, aMaster will be assigned or reassigned.

For the particular frame cycle, remaining wireless terminals act asSlaves (step 304). With this Master and Slave designation processcompleted, operation enters the beaconing period in which the Mastertransmits a beacon and the Slaves listen to the beacon (step 306).During the beaconing period the Slaves may power down their transmittersto conserve battery life. With the beaconing period completed, operationof the frame cycle continues into the broadcast data period (step 308).In the broadcast data period, the Master transmits data and the Slaveslisten for data and receive the data. During the broadcast data period,the Slaves may power down their transmitters because the transmittersare not required to respond to the data transmitted by the Master.

With the beaconing period and the broadcast data period completed,operation proceeds to the polled data period or periods (step 310). Inone embodiment of operation, each frame cycle will include a polled dataperiod for each Slave. During each polled data period, the Master sendsa poll to each of the Slaves, and each Slave transmits data to theMaster in response to the poll. The Master receives the data and, if thedata is intended for another of the wireless terminals, transmits thedata to an intended Slave during a subsequent frame cycle. Suchtransmission will occur when the device is again serving in the Mastercapacity and during the broadcast data period.

During the polled data period, non-assigned Slaves power down theirtransmitters and receivers (step 312). The non-assigned Slaves may dothis because they wish to conserve power during the non-assigned polleddata period. During the assigned polled data period, the assigned Slavepowers its transmitter and receiver (step 314). Then, for the exchangebetween the Master and the Slave, the Master polls the assigned Slave,receives data from the assigned Slave, and sends an acknowledgement tothe assigned Slave (step 316). Concurrently, the assigned Slave receivesthe poll from the Master, transmits data to the Master, and receives anacknowledgement from the Master (step 318).

Continuing with the operation of the frame cycle, the Master determineswhether or not the last polled data period has been completed (step320). If not, operation proceeds to the next assigned Slave in thepolled data period (step 312). If the polled data period is complete,operation proceeds to the contention period in which, for example, theMaster listens for new Slaves (step 322). The member Slaves may powerdown their transmitters and receivers during the contention periodbecause they generally do not transmit to the Master nor receive fromthe Master. In one embodiment, member slaves may need to retransmit dataduring the contention phase. Non-member wireless terminals desiringentry into the WLAN transmit to the Master during the contention period,requesting admittance to the WLAN (step 324). In the contention period,the Master may power down its transmitter and leave its receiver poweredduring what is referred to as a new Slave waiting period. This is theperiod during which it is expected that any Slave requesting admittanceto the WLAN will respond to the Master. From step 324 operation proceedsto step 302, where a new Master may be assigned or reassigned.

In most wireless devices, it takes some time for a receiver ortransmitter to be fully stable and operational after power is applied tothat block. According to some embodiments of the present invention, thereceiver and/or transmitter is/are left powered during periods that donot require corresponding transmit or receive functionality. Theblock(s) are left powered during this/these period(s) so that theblock(s) will function during a following interval when required.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the frame cycle division of anembodiment of the present invention. The structure of FIG. 4 illustratesthe various operations of the Masters and Slaves during the frame cycledivision of the frame cycle. During the beaconing period 402, both ofthe Master's transmitter and receiver are powered. However, in otheroperations, the Master may not power its receiver because it is onlytransmitting during the beaconing period 402 and not listening. Duringthe beaconing period 402, the Slaves must power their receivers, buttheir transmitters may not be powered in order to conserve battery life.During the broadcast data period 404, the Master has its transmitter andreceiver powered. The Slaves, however, only receiving data from theMaster, will have their receivers powered but not their transmitterspowered.

The polled data periods will include a first polled data period 406A, asecond polled data period, and so on through the “Nth” polled dataperiod 406N. During each polled data period, there will be an assignedSlave and a plurality of unassigned Slaves. During each polled dataperiod, the Master will have both its receiver and transmitter poweredbecause it transmits a poll to the assigned Slave, waits for data fromthe assigned Slave, and transmits an acknowledgement to the assignedSlave. Thus, the polled data period may be subdivided into a pollingperiod, a data transmission, and an acknowledgement period. During eachpolled data period, unassigned Slaves are neither receiving nortransmitting.

During the first polled data period 406A, a first assigned Slave maytransmit data to the Master. Because the Slave has data to transmit andbecause it must also listen for the poll and for an acknowledgement, theSlave must have both its transmitter and receiver powered during atleast some portions of the assigned poll data. Because the firstassigned Slave had its receiver powered during the broadcast data period404, the first assigned Slave leaves its receiver powered from thebroadcast data period 404 through the first polled data period 406A.However, the first assigned Slave must power its transmitter for receiptof the pole from the Master. Thus, the first assigned Slave may ramp upits transmitter during the polling period at a sufficient rate to beready just before the end of the incoming pole from the Master. Duringthe data transmission period of the first poled data period 406A, thefirst assigned Slave transmits data to the Master. After thistransmission is complete, the first assigned Slave may power down itstransmitter. However, the first assigned Slave must keep its receiverpowered up after the data transmission period so that it will receivethe acknowledgement during the acknowledgement period. After theacknowledgement period, the first assigned Slave may power down itsreceiver.

During the other polled data periods, the assigned Slaves operate in asimilar fashion. Because the other assigned Slaves have had theirreceivers and transmitters powered down during prior unassignedpolled-data periods, they must ramp up power to their transmitters andreceivers for their assigned polled-data periods. During the datatransmission period, the transmitter and the receiver of the assignedSlave are both powered. However, after the data transmission period, theassigned Slave may ramp down or turn off power to its transmitter whilekeeping its receiver powered for the acknowledgement period. After theassigned polled data period has been completed, the assigned Slave maypower down both its transmitter and its receiver.

The contention period 408 is the portion of the frame of the frame cyclein which new Slaves may request entry to the WLAN. In such case, theMaster has only to listen for new Slaves and thus does not power itstransmitter. The Master does power its receiver for a Slave-waitingperiod, during which new Slaves may request admittance to the WLAN.After the Slave-waiting period, the Master may power down its receiver,as well as its transmitter. During the contention period, all Slavesthat are members of the WLAN will power down both their transmitters andtheir receivers.

FIG. 5 is a signal timing diagram illustrating one example of operationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. The designations ofSlave(A), Slave(B), and Slave(C) may correspond to the designations ofFIG. 1A or 1B, for example. Row 800 shows the Master transmit signals,row 820 shows the Slave (A) transmit signals, row 825 shows the Slave(B)transmit signals, and row 830 shows the Slave(C) transmit signals. Row840 shows the power state of the Master transmitter components and row850 shows the power state of the Master receiver components. Row 860shows the power state of the Slave(A) transmitter components and row 870shows the power state of the Slave(A) receiver components. Row 880 showsthe power state of the Slave(C) transmitter components and row 890 showsthe power state of the Slave(C) receiver components.

The Master 324 begins the frame cycle 815 by transmitting a beaconduring beaconing period 801. Slave(A), Slave(B), and Slave(C) receivethe beacon from the Master 324 during the beaconing period 801. TheMaster 324 waits a period of time (for example a Short InterFrame Space(SIFS) period (not shown)) and then simultaneously transmits broadcastdata 802 to Slave(A), Slave(B), and Slave(C) during the broadcast dataperiod 802.

In either the Beacon transmission or the Broadcast data transmission,the Master notifies the Slaves of the polled-data period assignments. Asillustrated in FIG. 5, the first polled-data period is assigned toSlave(A), the second polled-data period is assigned to Slave(B), and thethird polled-data period is assigned to Slave(C). This order may changefrom frame cycle to frame cycle. The Master 324 waits a period (forexample SIFS period) and then transmits a poll request to Slave(A)during the polling period 803 of the polled-data period. The Master 324waits to receive data 821 from Slave(A) during the data transmissionperiod 804 of the first polled-data period and, after a period, Slave(A)transmits Data(A) 821 to the Master. After the Master has correctlyreceived Data(A) 821, it waits a period then transmits anAcknowledgement(A) to Slave(A) and a Poll(B) to Slave(B) during thecombined acknowledgement period/polling period 805. During datatransmission period 806, the Master receives Data(B) 826 from Slave(B).After the Master has correctly received Data(B) 826, it waits a periodthen transmits Acknowledgement(B) to Slave(B) and Poll(C) to Slave(C)during combined acknowledgement period/polling period 807. The Masterreceives Data(C) 831 from Slave(C) during data transmission period 808.After Master has correctly received Data(C) 831, it waits a period thentransmits Acknowledgement(C) and CFEND during acknowledgement period809.

Operation then enters the contention period. In the contention period,the Master waits to receive transmissions from new slaves requesting tojoin the WLAN. If no transmissions have been received within the newSlave Waiting Period 811, the Master ceases listening. At the end of thecontention period 810, a new frame cycle commences with a new Beacon819. In the new frame cycle the Master may be a different wirelessterminal or may be the same wireless terminal.

Referring to both FIGS. 2 and 5, the processor 206 of each wirelessterminal executes WLAN instructions (WIs) 214 to turn off components ofthe wireless terminal 200 to reduce the power drawn from battery 212.Typically, various components within the receiver functionality ortransmitter functionality in the RF unit 204 and the processor 206 arecontrolled to conserve battery life. A related aspect is that variouscomponents and functions in the RF unit 204 may take ramp orstabilization time before operating properly or optimally for a periodof time after power is applied. Thus components must be turned on for aperiod of time before needed.

An example of this type of power management is illustrated withreference to the Slave(A) transmitter power 860. Slave(A) is notrequired to transmit during the Beacon period 801 or the Broadcast dataperiod 802 and its transmit components are turned off (sleep) 861 duringthese portions of the frame cycle 815. In preparation for transmittingData(A) 821, Slave(A) begins to power on sub-components of itstransmitter during Ramp 862. During Ramp 862, different sub-componentsare turned on at different times as illustrated in 862. For example, aCrystal Oscillator and a Synthesizer of the transmitter are turned on1000 microseconds before needed and a Phase Lock Loop (PLL) of thetransmitter is turned on 100 microseconds before needed. The transmitteris then optimally available for transmission of Data(A) 821. Duringtransmission of Data(A) 821, the transmitter is fully on as indicated at863. After the transmission Data(A) 821 is completed, the transmitter isreturned to a sleep mode at 864. Such power control steps significantlyreduce the average power drawn from the battery 212 in the wirelessterminal 200. Similar operations are performed for the other componentsand functionality in the wireless terminal 200 such as in the RFreceiver 218. Similar operations are performed for each other of theSlaves and for the Master.

A particular embodiment of the present invention rotates the order thatthe Slaves (Slave(A), Slave(B), and Slave(C)) are assigned polled-dataperiods so as to equalize the average amount of power drawn overmultiple frame cycles 815. In a rotation of the Slave order, Slave(B)becomes Slave(A), Slave (C) becomes Slave(B), Slave(D) becomes Slave(C), and Slave(A) becomes Slave(D) in a last operation of the cycle.Such a rotation can occur every cycle or every “n” cycles. Further, thiscycle may be extended for additional Slave devices.

Another particular embodiment of the present invention periodicallyswaps the role of the Master 324 with a device that was a Slave so as toequalize the average amount of power drawn over multiple frame cycles815. This rotation is an integer multiple greater than one of the numberof cycles that the Slaves rotate. The Master is swapped for Slave(A).The integer multiple is selected so that a different physical device isthe old Slave(A) each time that the Master is swapped for Slave(A).

When a new Slave, for example Slave(D) wishes to enter the communicationsystem, it does so by transmitting a message during the contentionperiod 810. A further use of the contention period 810 is if a Slavedoes not receive an acknowledgement to its data message, the datamessage may have become corrupted during transmission. Thus, the datamessage must be retransmitted. The data message is not retransmittedduring the contention free period since it would disturb the patternwhen the other Slaves are expecting to wake up so as to receive andtransmit their messages. Retransmissions are also transmitted during thecontention period. In order to minimize potential collisions during thecontention period, the Slaves retransmit in the order in which they werepolled. Since it is unlikely that all of the Slaves must retransmit inthe same cycle, a deferring mechanism is established to reduce the timethe Master must wait with its receiver on. Slave(A) must wait a singleperiod of time (for example a SIFS time) before transmitting after CFEND809. Slave(B) must wait two periods of time (for example two SIFS times)before transmitting after CFEND 809. Slave(C) must wait three periods oftime (for example three SIFS times) before transmitting after CFEND 809,and so on. Finally, a potential new Slave may transmit a new Slavemessage after another period of time (for example SIFS time) duration.Thus, the maximum time a Master needs to maintain its receiver withoutreceiving a signal after CFEND 809 is period of time (for example SIFS)times the number of Slaves plus one in the frame cycle 815.

If more than one Slave must retransmit, each Slave decrements the numberof period of time (for example a SIFS times) it waits by one for eachretransmission that occurs. The next retransmission may then begin afterthe successful transmission and acknowledgement of the previousretransmission followed by the number of SIFS periods calculated above.Before transmitting, a Slave must check to make sure no othertransmission is occurring. No retransmission may occur after the end ofthe current frame cycle 815. Before transmitting, a Slave must check tomake sure that the duration of its transmission would exceed the end ofthe current frame cycle 815. Since the Slaves defer theirretransmissions by different amounts of time, a time and power consumingcollision is unlikely.

Another embodiment of the invention used in conjunction with thestructured transmission times identifies the compression of thesubsequent headers of the transmission messages according to informationgiven during the Broadcast data 802. For example, the 6 octet MACaddress within a header may be substituted with a single octet Masterderived ID. The mapping is conveyed in the Broadcast data 802 and isused by the Slaves and Master for all message header transmissions inthat frame cycle.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding termand/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted toleranceranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to,but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit processvariations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermalnoise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a fewpercent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, theterm(s) “coupled to” and/or “coupling” and/or includes direct couplingbetween items and/or indirect coupling between items via an interveningitem (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, anelement, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for indirect coupling, theintervening item does not modify the information of a signal but mayadjust its current level, voltage level, and/or power level. As mayfurther be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where one element iscoupled to another element by inference) includes direct and indirectcoupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”. As mayeven further be used herein, the term “operable to” indicates that anitem includes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s),etc., to perform one or more its corresponding functions and may furtherinclude inferred coupling to one or more other items. As may stillfurther be used herein, the term “associated with”, includes directand/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item beingembedded within another item. As may be used herein, the term “comparesfavorably”, indicates that a comparison between two or more items,signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, when thedesired relationship is that a first signal has a greater magnitude thana second signal, a favorable comparison may be achieved when themagnitude of the first signal is greater than that of the second signalor when the magnitude of second signal is less than that of the firstsignal.

1. A method for managing peer-to-peer communications in a Wireless LocalArea Network (WLAN) having a plurality of wireless terminals including atransmitter and a receiver, one of the plurality of wireless terminalsacts as a master at any time and remaining ones acting as slaves at anytime, the method comprising: communicating according to a frame cycleincluding a beaconing period, a broadcast data period; during thebeaconing period, the master transmitting a beacon and each of theplurality of Slaves listening for the beacon; and during the broadcastdata period, the master broadcasting data and each of the plurality ofSlaves listening for the broadcast data.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising alternating mastering duties among the plurality ofwireless terminals according to a round-robin mastering cycle, theround-robin mastering cycle including a plurality of frame cycles, oneof the plurality of wireless terminals acting as a master during eachframe cycle and remaining ones of the plurality of wireless terminalsacting as Slaves during each frame cycle.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising none of the wireless terminals serving as the masterfor consecutive frame cycles of the round-robin mastering cycle.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising none of the wireless terminalsserving as the master for more than one frame cycle of the plurality offrame cycles of the round-robin mastering cycle.
 5. The method of claim2, further comprising one of the wireless terminals acting as the masterfor more than one consecutive frame cycle of the plurality of framecycles of the round-robin mastering cycle.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein during both the beaconing period and the broadcast data period,at least one Slave of the plurality of the Slaves powers down itsrespective transmitter.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:during the beaconing period, a Slave determining that it has beenassigned a polled data period that immediately follows the broadcastdata period; the Slave powering down its transmitter during thebeaconing period; and the Slave powering up its transmitter during apolled data period immediately following the broadcast data period. 8.The method of claim 1, further comprising: during the beaconing period,a Slave determining that it has been assigned a polled data period thatdoes not immediately follow the broadcast data period; the Slavepowering down its transmitter during the beaconing period; the Slavepowering down its receiver during a polled data period immediatelyfollowing the broadcast data period; and the Slave powering up itstransmitter and its receiver during its assigned polled data period. 9.The method of claim 1, further comprising, during the plurality ofpolled data periods, Slaves powering down their transmitters andreceivers during unassigned polled data periods.
 10. A wireless terminalfor peer-to-peer communications in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)having a plurality of wireless terminals, the wireless terminalcomprising: a processor; a radio frequency unit coupled to theprocessing circuitry that supports wireless data transmission, the radiofrequency unit including a transmitter and a receiver; memory coupled tothe processor, wherein the memory stores operational instructions thatcause the processor to: during a frame cycle of a plurality of framecycles, configure the wireless terminal to act either as a Slave,wherein one of the plurality of wireless terminals will act as a master,or as a master, wherein the plurality of wireless terminals will act asSlaves; when the wireless terminal acts as a master during a beaconingperiod of the frame cycle, transmit a beacon in which each of theplurality of Slaves operate to listen for; and during a broadcast dataperiod of the frame cycle, broadcast data in which each of the pluralityof Slaves operate to listen for the broadcast data.
 11. The wirelessterminal of claim 10, wherein the memory further stores operationalinstructions that cause the processor to: alternate mastering dutiesaccording to a round-robin mastering cycle, wherein by alteringmastering duties, the wireless terminal acts a master during at leastone frame cycle and acts a Slave during other frame cycles.
 12. Thewireless terminal of claim 11, wherein the wireless terminal does notserve as the master for consecutive frame cycles of the round-robinmastering cycle.
 13. The wireless terminal of claim 11, wherein thewireless terminal does not act as the master for more than one framecycle of the plurality of frame cycles of the round-robin masteringcycle.
 14. The wireless terminal of claim 11, wherein the wirelessterminal acts as the master for more than one consecutive frame cycle ofa plurality of frame cycles of the round-robin mastering cycle.
 15. Thewireless terminal of claim 10, wherein, when the wireless terminal actsas a Slave, the memory further stores operational instructions thatcause the processor to: during both the beaconing period and thebroadcast data period, power down its transmitter.
 16. The wirelessterminal of claim 10, wherein, when the wireless terminal acts as aSlave, the memory further stores operational instructions that cause theprocessor to: power up its receiver after a contention period of thecycle of plurality of cycles in anticipation of the next beaconingperiod.
 17. The wireless terminal of claim 10, wherein, when thewireless terminal acts as a master, the memory further storesoperational instructions that cause the processor to: power down itstransmitter during a contention period of the frame cycle.